In the first fifteen minutes of Tyler Perry’s latest drama, Straw, we observe Janiyah Wiltkinson (Taraji P. Henson) during her worst day: she loses her job, gets her car impounded, evicted from her apartment, and, worst of all, loses custody of her child, the one constant ray of joy in her life. Everything goes wrong in the span of a few hours, and the last part has devastated her so much that she demands a paycheck from her boss, Richard (played by Glynn Turman) to pay for what her daughter currently needs as she will fight to regain custody.
However, Janiyah becomes the victim of an attempted robbery while discussing with her boss, and, in an attempt at self-defense, kills one of the robbers. Thinking he has been set up, Richard calls the police and gets shot by Janiyah, who runs away to a local bank to cash in her check. The rest of the movie occurs inside the location, as Janiyah holds the bank employees and their customers hostage until she gets what she is owed. It’s one dramatic twist after the next, and Perry’s relentless barrage of unsubtle turns often miss the mark, even if Henson herself remains fully committed to give her all to Janiyah.
The plot feels highly reminiscent of Abi Damaris-Corbin’s Breaking, which in turn was based on a true story, where John Boyega’s Brian Brown-Easley holds a bank hostage after a succession of events leads him to his last straw. He communicates with a crisis negotiator (played by Michael K. Williams) to get people out of the bank safely, which is the same thing that occurs in Perry’s film. Detectives who are tasked to investigate the murder of the robbers who attempted to steal money from Janiyah’s place of work collect testimonies from people who knew her, and all say the same thing: she never would have done something like this.
Detective Kat Raymond (Teyana Taylor) believes them and leads the negotiation to get as many people out of the bank safely, with Janiyah, who doesn’t want to rob the bank, but wants her paycheck. After an opening section that led me to believe Perry finally did a deeply humanistic drama that allowed its lead actor to work on an emotionally textured performance, the succession of misery events is treated with as much subtlety as you’d expect from the director of thirteen Madea films. It sours our relationship with the protagonist, who makes one terrible decision after another, and brings the audience along for the ride.
Taraji P. Henson, Teyana Taylor and Sherri Shepherd shine
Inside the bank, though, Perry actively gives time in the spotlight for their actors to play, as if we were watching live theater. Henson, in her fourth collaboration with Perry after The Family That Preys, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, his best film, and Acrimony, is arguably the most outstanding part of the entire movie. She imbues Janiyah with so much sorrow and deep emotional pain that we feel for her at every turn, even when Perry’s nonsensical, exaggerated, melodramatic twists and turns prevent us from fully engaging with the protagonist.
Moments where Perry sits with Janiyah and lets her feel the gravity of the situation she’s in are more powerful than any line of dialogue she speaks, even when she breaks down and explains why this path may be the only solution left out of her dreadful predicament. Taylor, as Detective Raymond, brings a great counterbalance to Henson’s emotional core, and justifiably lets Janiyah speak and express her grievances while she lends a helping hand. Similarly, Sherri Shepherd, as bank manager Nicole, gives tremendous amounts of compassion as she never judges Janiyah for her actions and will do what’s possible to help her, given the difficult circumstances she is in.
It’s Perry at his most simple in years, and, in that huis-clos section, brings him back to his days as a playwright. However, simple is not in Perry’s DNA, as he always seems to find ways to overcomplicate his screenplays when they don’t need to be. Is Straw treading on any new ground? No, but it gets the job done, and has three powerhouse performances from Henson, Taylor, and Shepherd, and that seems enough.
A ridiculous twist sinks Perry's movie, once again
However, Perry decides to do the exact same thing that sank his dreadful Duplicity and throw a last-minute plot twist meant to evoke a strong emotional response to the audience. What that revelation is, I will not tell you, but let’s just say that such a denouement was absolutely unwarranted, as the predicament Janiyah lives through is emotionally powerful enough.
It only concludes the movie with a bad taste in our mouth, and a realization that Perry will never be able to make art that will stand the test of time if he doesn’t treat serious subject matters like the ones he deals with in Straw with a modicum of respect. Making a Shyamalan-esque twist at the end of your picture that, in theory, could’ve worked if it was properly established, will not give the movie the impact you think it will.
Still, for Tyler Perry fans, this may be right up their alley. And they won’t have to wait very long for his next one, Madea’s Destination Wedding, which will hit Netflix in a month. Regardless of the quality of his films, few work harder in this industry and have amassed the level of success that Perry has ever since his feature film debut, with a career many are dreaming of. That alone is enough for him to always earn my respect, even though I wish he’d make more valuable films…